Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Title: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 384
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Genre: Contemporary
Release: July 31st 2012
Source: BEA
Buy the Book at: Book Depository / Chapters Indigo

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

A Precious and Significant Addition to the YA Shelves! 

When I say that this book was impossible to put down, it's true! When I say that this book will keep you awake late into the night, it's true! And when I say that this book is one of the best and most gripping ones I have read this year, it's also true! You don't believe me? Then I dare you to pick this book up as soon as it comes out, and I'm sure you will obsess over this piece of YA lit gem as much as I!

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry is an emotionally evocative story of two teenagers falling in love with each other, and who are, at the same time, in the middle of one the most difficult times of their lives. Noah, two years ago lost his parents in a fire. Only he and his two little brothers (4 and 8) are left of his family. Unfortunately, he becomes a victim of the system. He is sent into foster families and his two little brother are taken away from him. Noah's life becomes a complete nightmare the moment he loses the right to see his brothers. This pushes him to the limit and he loses interest in school while gaining interest in weed. Then, there is Echo, whose arms are all full of scars yet she cannot remember anything of the night the horrible event happened. All she knows is that her bipolar mother did that to her and since then, she hasn't able to have one full night of peaceful sleep. Needlessly to say that her brother died in Afghanistan and now her father is starting fresh with his girlfriend (ex nanny) and soon-to-be born new son.

I love this book so much! It kept me reading until very late last night and I was unable to put it down until I turned the last page. Katie McGarry has certainly written a phenomenal story where two teens come to term with their life and overcome the unfortunate events that plague their minds. I highly praise the author's skill to evoke emotions. This is one of the things that kept me on the edge while turning pages (and biting my nails and shedding more than a few tears). In addition, Noah and Echo's relationship grows at a perfect pace and the difficult life circumstances both characters share, makes their love even more powerful and understandable. However, Noah and Echo's relationship is not the only one I adore in this novel. Noah and his brothers relationship is so moving yet cruel at the same time and I'm sure readers will sympathize with the characters of this story as much as I.

If there is something readers are going to find in abundance in this book, is the different types of relationship that McGarry so brilliantly illustrates in it as well as the diversity of rich characters. For example, Mrs. Collins (Noah and Echo's social worker) is one of the characters I most fell in love with! Believe me, if everyone were just a bit like her, the world would be a much, much better place. Having said that, I think that the first person dual narration was extremely fitting for the story and I loved reading both characters perspectives and get to know each one of them so amazingly well!

Pushing the Limits is a fabulous and brilliantly written story where the unfairness of life can be conquered by love, understanding and forgiveness. Katie McGarry delivers a precious and significant addition to the YA contemporary genre that readers will certainly treasure like a jewel on their shelves.

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Visit the author's website at http://www.katielmcgarry.com